This is a episode commentary. It is intended for someone who has seen this episode, and will contain episode spoilers.

A Human Work

That Which Is Manmade

The truth behind the Second Impact is a good show of storytelling. The viewer is put in the place of Shinji in believing a meteorite caused the melting of the southern ice cap, but in reality it was an event which occurred on the Earth completely. The question here becomes: where are the Angels from? Are they extraterrestrial or terrestrial?

There are so many groups, organizations, and it’s impossible for me to keep track of them all. Someone’s sabotaging efforts, but who? Did Ritsuko’s conversation with Gendo suggest that it was Nerv who’d deleted the files and replaced the program on the robot? Was Nerv working to sabotage the efforts of other organizations, knowing that only Nerv stands a chance against the Angels, and therefore Nerv is the one which must get all the funding? And what about the almost-meltdown? What if the meltdown actually happened? This also reminds me, I still don’t know if the Evas are fully man-made, or if they’re in some way related to the Angels.

One of the things which stood out to me was the person who said “over 20,000 people in several countries are starving”. Unless these people live in deserts, I’d say it’s time to teach people this little thing called farming. And if they live near water, teach them how to catch a fish, so they can eat for more than a day. That should hold ’em. Well, at least until they’ve farmed all the soil beyond use and caught every fish in the lakes and rivers.

The subtle comedy is welcome with the pace everything else is moving, as seen when Misato exits her room the second time, and the penguin is so stunned to see her formally dressed that his breakfast falls right from his beak. The final conversation between Shinji and his classmates about Misato is a nice, heartwarming one, as well.

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